


The 5 Times Peter Parker Had A Panic Attack

by unhoes



Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming, The Avengers
Genre: Angst, Crying, Dehydration, Gym class, Hospitals, I wrote this at 1 AM whiled drugged up on allergy pills, Idk why my formatting got so messed up, LOTS OF PANIC ATTACKS, Other, Panic Attacks, Passing Out, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Pls read my story, School Sucks, The Avengers Are Good Bros, Tony Being A Dad, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony gives him a hug, abstinence ;), and Gwen and Harry, anxiety also sucks, enjoy, health class, i probably forgot a lot - Freeform, im bad at tagging, im sorry, ned is the mvp, so is michelle, the only romantic relationship is Wanda and vision, this story probably sucks, unless you count Liz and Peter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-17 01:18:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14822480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unhoes/pseuds/unhoes
Summary: TRIGGER WARNING: PANIC ATTACKS!!!!! These are the five times that Peter had panic attacks and someone was usually there to comfort him after. These chapters are based on my own panic attacks. This is me venting all of my anxiety through my favorite boi.





	1. Chapter 1

Peter Parker was just an average teenager. Well, by day at least. After school was when he hung up his backpack and traded it in for the red, black, and white mask of his alter ego: Spider-Man. Being Spider-Man was definitely a blast, but it wasn’t fun and games all the time. He had lost count of the number of people he couldn’t help. That, along with the stress of having to do hours of homework, piled up quickly.  
If you had asked Peter Parker at the beginning of his freshman year if he liked school he would’ve said yes. That all changed, however in health class one day.  
Health class was required for every freshman at Midtown High. As uncomfortable as it was talking about sex and learning how to put condoms on, it had to be taught. Otherwise half the school’s female population would be pregnant. Peter wasn’t excited for the class, but it was only half a year so he supposed he could suck it up.  
It was almost halfway through the school year when Peter began to question his health. He sat in his desk on the left side of the room and rested his head on his palm. He was pleasantly surprised when Liz decided to sit next to him at the beginning of the year. He thought he was going to be a loner in that class since Ned had P.E. this semester.  
The subject was abstinence, which was pretty boring for Peter since he had heard it all before already. He lifted his head every once in a while to copy the notes on the board as the teacher wrote them down. Suddenly, as he was staring up at the board, black dots began to dance across his vision. Isn’t that usually what people see before they pass out? He began to feel tired all of a sudden and came to a realization that he was about to pass out. He placed his black pen on his notebook and looked at Liz. He didn’t want to disturb her though since she seemed so focused on whatever it was the teacher was saying. He decided his health was probably more important and tried to whisper to her.  
“L-“ Peter began before blacking out. His eyes rolled back into his head and he fell to the right of the red, plastic chair. He fell into Liz’s lap, before falling onto the floor. Liz gasped as Peter’s head hit the tile floor with a loud ‘BANG.’  
Peter snapped his eyes open, confused as to why he was lying on the hard tile floor. He could see his teacher standing above him, while another teacher stood behind her on the phone.  
“What do we do? Should we call an ambulance or the nurse?” His teacher panicked. She turned towards Peter and placed her hand on his shoulder. She looked at his opened eyes and gasped. “He’s awake! Just call the school nurse.” She breathed a sigh of relief. The teacher on the phone obeyed and told the school nurse what was going on.  
“The nurse will be here with a wheelchair in a minute.” The teacher on the phone said, then walked towards the back of the room.  
Soon enough, the nurse came into the room with a wheelchair. She was a chubby woman with short blonde hair and a beautiful smile. She helped Peter up and into the wheelchair slowly.  
“I’m just gonna take your blood pressure, okay?” She smiled and that soothed Peter’s fears a bit. She strapped the cuff around Peter’s left arm and began to pump the black bulb. It felt like a snake squeezing his arm. Peter could feel his heart beat faster when the cuff squeezed harder. He thought nothing of it at the time. The cuff slowly loosened around his arm, and the nurse unstrapped it and pulled it off. “Have you had anything to drink today?” She asked. Peter thought about it for a minute before responding.  
“No, I don’t think so.” Peter responded, dazed. The nurse looked towards the rest of the class.  
“Does anyone have an unopened water bottle?” The nurse questioned. Peter froze. He completely forgot the entire class was sitting just behind him.  
“I do.” Liz answered, pulling a water bottle, wet with condensation, out of her backpack. She passed it to the nurse. Peter wanted to thank her, but couldn’t find the words as he opened the cap with shaky hands and pressed the bottle to his lips.  
“Thank you. Stop by my office later and I’ll give you money for another water bottle.” The nurse smiled.  
“Oh, no. That’s okay. I have plenty at home.” Peter could hear the smile in Liz’s voice. The teacher packed Peter’s notebook and pen into his backpack and passed it to the nurse.  
“I’ll put your backpack on the back of the wheelchair.” The nurse told him. Peter didn’t respond. The nurse wheeled him out into the hallway and towards her office. Once she got there she put Peter on a hard, green bed with tissue paper covering it. Peter didn’t know how long he stared at the ceiling until he saw Aunt May standing over him.  
“Hey Pete.” She smiled, a concerned expression on her face. “I’m gonna take you to the hospital so we can make sure you didn’t get a concussion from hitting your head.” She placed her hand on his back and helped him to sit up. The nurse walked over and helped him into the wheelchair. The nurse chatted idly with Aunt May as she pushed Peter through the empty hallway and out the front door. Aunt May and the nurse got on either side of Peter and helped him into the passenger seat of the car. Aunt May thanked the nurse before getting in and driving to the hospital.  
They drove in silence until they reached the hospital.  
“Think you can walk in on your own?” Aunt May asked. Peter nodded his head and slowly got out of the car. They walked into the emergency room and to the front desk where May explained the situation to the lady. Peter walked over to the cushioned chairs in the waiting room and sat down.  
Soon, Aunt May walked over and sat beside him. She placed her hand on his knee and looked at Peter’s pale face.  
“Everything’s gonna be okay, Pete.” She gave him a wobbly smile. He tried his best to return the gesture. Peter’s phone vibrated in his pocket, but he figured even if he did care at the moment he probably shouldn’t be looking at the small screen if he possibly has a concussion. After vibrating a few more times, May’s phone began to ring instead. She checked the called ID and saw it was Tony. She sighed and declined the call, sending him a quick text message stating that Peter wouldn’t be going to the tower that night. She ignored the stream of texts that followed.  
Soon, a nurse walked in and brought Peter and May back to an examination room. She asked Peter multiple questions, then ran some tests. Peter had to walk back and fourth through many hallways before all the tests were complete. Peter and May went to wait in the plain examination room for the results.  
Finally, after hours of waiting the results were in. Peter didn’t have a concussion, and the doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with him.  
“He seems to be perfectly fine. He probably fainted from not drinking enough water or not eating breakfast this morning. As long as he eats and drinks enough he should be fine.”  
After that, Peter made sure to never skip breakfast again and began bringing a water bottle to school with him. When he returned to school the next day, Ned ran over to him.  
“Dude! I thought you were dead! I heard you passed out in class and then you weren’t answering your phone and-“  
“Ned, I’m fine.” Peter chuckled. It was nice to have a friend that cared about him so much.  
“Good. While you may have passed out in front of your entire health class...” Peter cringed. “Something good did come out of it!” Ned exclaimed. Peter raised an eyebrow in silent questioning. “Liz is really worried about you! Oh! Speak of the devil! Gotta go Peter!” Ned winked at him and scurried away. Peter turned around in confusion and saw Liz walking towards him with a relieved expression on her face.  
“Hey! You okay?” Liz asked. Her brown curls bounced with every step she took before she stopped in front of him.  
“Yeah, I’m okay now. Thanks. And thanks for the water yesterday.” Peter rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.  
“No problem! I’m just glad you’re okay! You really scared me you know.” She frowned slightly. It didn’t look right on her face. She was pretty when she frowned, but beautiful when she smiled.  
“Sorry about that. I guess I should stop skipping breakfast and drink more water.” Peter smiled.  
“You better! Don’t make me worry like that again!” She scolded playfully, but Peter could tell she meant it.  
“I won’t.” Peter smiled at her. He kept his promise of never skipping breakfast and drinking more water and never felt dizzy again.


	2. The Project

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter has a panic attack while presenting.

Peter had been perfectly healthy the next time an episode occurred. It was towards the end of freshman year. Everyone was excited for summer, but they had finals to get through first. One of Peter’s favorite classes that year had been his required Freshman Academic Seminar class. Everyone in his grade always complained about how horrible the class was, but Peter guessed they were less lucky than he was. He had the greatest teacher for his class. Her name was Ms. Cipher. Peter thought her name was really cool. She was really nice too. She wasn’t the type of teacher to give out homework and yell at the class for having a bit of fun. She let them talk as long as they weren’t screaming and were doing their work.  
The final for the class wasn’t a test. Instead, it was a group project. Peter didn’t have any friends in his class, so he waited until everyone had picked their partners. Unfortunately, Peter was stuck with the rude cheerleader that never did her work. Her name was Tianna. She had an attitude and didn’t listen to any of the teachers. It was a surprise they hadn’t kicked her off the cheerleading team yet.  
Peter and Tianna had decided to do their project on domestic violence in relationships. Peter wondered out of all the topics in the world she could choose, why Tianna would choose this one. It seemed a bit boring since other kids in his class were doing projects on social media, drag queens, movies, and all sorts of interesting topics. But, Peter didn’t argue with her. There would be no point.  
Peter should have argued, since he ended up doing all the work anyway. Their project was perfectly neat and accurate. Peter thought that all they would have to do is turn it in and be done. However, Ms. Cipher told them that next class they would go down to the library with a few other classes and present their projects to other students. Students would go up to presentations and listen to the freshmen present them and take notes to hand into their teacher. Peter already knew nobody would be coming to their project. He was relieved though. He hated presenting.  
The next class came and everyone brought their projects to the library. Everyone set their projects up on the tables and waited for the upperclassmen to arrive. Soon, students started pouring in. As expected, they all walked straight past Peter and Tianna and straight to the presentation about drag queens right next to theirs.  
Eventually, a teacher came over to their sorry excuse of a project and Tianna began to present. Peter sighed in relief when he realized Tianna wouldn’t give him a chance to talk even if he wanted to. The teacher asked some questions before finally leaving. Eventually, Tianna got bored and found some of her upperclassmen friends. She ditched Peter and he tapped his foot in fear. Peter prayed that nobody else would come over to his presentation.  
Of course, with his bad luck, two students holding a camera and a microphone walked over to him.  
“Are you presenting?” The girl holding the camera asked.  
“U-um no.” Peter stuttered, hoping that they would walk away and find someone who was presenting.  
“Great!” The boy holding the microphone exclaimed before shoving the microphone into Peter’s hand. Peter’s legs began to shake as he thought about every stupid thing he might say on camera. The girl gave him a thumbs up, signaling that the camera was recording.  
“Um- uh-“ Peter stumbled over his words as he felt tears pooling in his eyes. No! He didn’t want to start crying in front of half the school and on camera. That would be extremely embarrassing. But sure enough, he felt hot tears sliding down his cheeks. His breathing began to speed up and he looked around in panic for an exit. He saw the glowing red exit sign in the distance and dropped the microphone, speed walking towards the exit with his head down. He could barely breathe and didn’t even acknowledge the librarian when she asked where he was going. He left the library and booked it to the nearby bathroom. He leaned against the wall as he tried to steady his breathing. He was glad there was nobody in the bathroom to witness his attack.  
Peter sunk to the floor as his breathing began to return to normal. Once he calmed down completely, he slid back up the wall and grabbed the edge of the sink. He looked at his red cheeks and puffy eyes in the mirror and took a paper towel. He wetted the paper towel and wiped the tears off his face, then took a dry paper towel to dry his face. He waited a couple minutes until his red face disappeared and left the bathroom. Ms. Cipher stopped him right outside.  
“I saw what happened.” She said. “You should’ve just told me you had anxiety. I wouldn’t‘ve made you present if I had known.” Peter felt his blood run cold. Anxiety? Did he have anxiety? He never felt anxious before today. “I just came to tell you it’s time for lunch. Are you gonna eat, or are you gonna stay in the bathroom all day?” She asked.  
“I’ll go to lunch.” Peter said before thanking her and leaving to get his lunch. The rest of the day went by quickly and Peter was very grateful for that.


	3. Gym Class Hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lol do you get the title? No? Okay I’ll stop now. B) But in this chapter Peter has a panic attack in gym class.

Peter didn’t even think about his so called “anxiety” after that day. He hadn’t had another attack since then. He was now in the third quarter of his sophomore year. He had a lot more friends this year. Unfortunately, Liz moved away after her father was arrested. However, Peter’s new friends MJ, Harry, and Gwen were enough to help him get over the heartbreak of his first crush moving away. Ned was still his best friend too. Plus, he always had the avengers to cheer him up, even if he never told them about Liz.  
Peter was excited for the year to be over. This would be his last year of gym class, then he would have his full credit for gym and never have to take it again. Believe it or not, gym was probably Peter’s favorite class this year. Mostly because it was the only class he had with all of his friends. They weren’t big on sports either, so they usually strayed away from the rest of the class and set up the ping pong tables or just hit a volleyball around in a circle.  
Today, they decided to play volleyball with the rest of the non athletic kids in their class. Peter didn’t really want to, but then again he did need his credit for gym. Luckily, just like him, nobody else knew the rules to volleyball either. They all hit the ball over the net back and forth and hoped it wouldn’t go off the court. They lost track of the score after ten minutes and decided it didn’t matter anyways. Peter stood in the back left corner. To his right was Harry, and to Harry’s right was Gwen. In front of Peter was MJ and next to her was Ned. He didn’t know the name of the girl on the other side of Ned.  
Eventually, they all began to forget when to rotate, so they just stuck with their original positions. Peter tried to keep his mind on the game, he really did. But, the ball rarely came back to his corner of the court. Hell, the ball rarely even made it over the net half of the time. He began to think about lunch next period. His eyes widened in realization when he realized he would have a different lunch block today. He tried to remember which lunch science classes had, and remembered he had last lunch. He heard the others talking about it before, and none of them had last lunch. He would be alone. Just like last year. He began to sweat slightly at the thought of having to be the loser that sits alone at lunch. He subconsciously crossed his arms and began to dig his nails into his arm. He glanced at the clock and realized there were thirty more minutes of class. Thirty more minutes of having friends.  
“You okay?” MJ asked. Huh? When did she get in front of him? He realized he had been staring at the ground when he looked up at her. “You look shook. You don’t have to play if you don’t want to. I can cover your spot.” Peter missed the way the corners of her mouth turned up slightly at her use of the word “shook.”  
Peter felt himself begin to choke up as the tears swam to the surface of his eyes. MJ’s slight smile turned into a concerned frown.  
“Yeah... I’m just gonna... sit down.” Peter’s nails dug deeper into his skin. His eyes never left the floor as he quickly walked over to the bleachers. He sat down and continued his staring contest with the floor. He felt his breathing begin to speed up as his heart felt like it would beat out of his chest. He felt the tears begin to travel down his cheeks.  
“Are you okay?” Peter turned his stare upwards onto Harry who was smiling sadly at him. Peter nodded his head, which was betrayed by the sob that left his lips. Harry’s eyes widened as he sat down next to Peter and began to rub his back. Before he knew it, Gwen was standing in front of him while MJ and Ned sat on the other side of him. Peter began hyperventilating.  
“He needs room! Give him space!” Gwen yelled at them. They scooted away slightly to give him a bit more room. Peter would never understand why people thought that giving someone space while having a panic attack was a good idea. Peter wanted to exact opposite actually. He wanted physical touch, to know he wasn’t alone in the world. Once he began breathing steadily again, his friends hesitantly moved closer. Peter still had his arms crossed, but he had stopped digging his fingernails into his skin. He stopped crying, but he couldn’t stop shaking. His arms and legs felt tingly, and he realized his hands were locked into a crab claw posture. He couldn’t pry his thumb from the rest of his fingers, which caused him to shake in fear even more.  
“Do you want a hug?” God, yes. That was all Peter wanted. He nodded his head slightly. Ned and MJ hugged him from one side, while Harry hugged him from the other. Peter kept shaking, but the hug did make him feel a little better.  
“Do you wanna go for a walk?” Ned asked.  
“Y-yeah.” Peter responded.  
“Alright, lets go.” Ned replied.  
“Don’t you think we should tell coach first?” Gwen asked, nervously.  
“I’m sure he’ll understand.” MJ said, standing up.  
“Guys? I-I can’t feel my legs let alone walk.” Peter confessed.  
“Do you wanna go to the nurse?” Harry asked.  
“Y-yeah, I think that would be best.” Peter stuttered as he continued to shake. Gwen walked away to tell the coach and soon came back with him trailing behind. He kneeled in front of Peter and took his hands in his.  
“I already called the nurse, she’s on her way.” Coach explained. “Can you relax your hands for me?”  
“I-I can’t.” Peter croaked, on the verge of tears again.  
“Alright, I have to go dismiss the class. Can you guys stay here with Peter? I’ll write you all late passes.” Coach got up after everyone nodded and dismissed the class before going to write late passes.  
“Wanna watch funny YouTube videos while we wait?” Ned asked. He pulled out his phone after Peter nodded and opened his YouTube playlist “funny videos Peter sent me.” The first video that came up was a video of Kermit the Frog on a game called Second Life. Peter chuckled weakly when he heard the narrator’s nasally voice say “is that Kermit the Frog with two samurai swords smoking a blunt?” They continued watching videos until the nurse got there with the wheelchair. Peter sat in the chair with the help of Ned and MJ.  
“I’ll get your bag from the locker room!” Ned ran into the locker room with Harry and changed, while Gwen and MJ went into the girl’s locker room to change. Soon, Ned came out with his backpack and gently placed it in Peter’s lap. Harry, MJ, and Gwen came out and said their goodbyes to Peter as the nurse wheeled him away.  
“You have some really nice friends you know.” The nurse told him.  
“Yeah.” Peter smiled slightly.


	4. Homework Helper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter has a panic attack while trying to do his geometry homework.

Peter had had a long day at school today. He was happy it was Friday, and he was spending the weekend with Tony and Pepper at the tower while the rest of the avengers were in Wakanda. Peter was still bitter at the fact that he wasn’t allowed to go because of school. He had always wanted to go to Wakanda and meet the sister T’Challa always talks about.  
Peter dragged his feet into the house and dropped his backpack on the floor with a groan.  
“Long day?” Aunt May appeared in the doorway to the kitchen.  
“Yeah.” Peter sighed.  
“Well, lucky for you I got off work early today so I had time to pack your bag for the weekend.” Aunt May held up Peter’s old backpack that he now used for sleepovers and trips. His face lit up.  
“Thanks Aunt May!” Peter ran over to her and gave her a hug. She giggled as she returned the hug.  
“Alright, alright. Happy will be here soon. Just promise me you’ll get all your homework done tonight so you don’t forget while you’re having fun this weekend?” Aunt May crossed her arms.  
“Of course!” Peter smiled. Just then, there was a knock at the door. Peter grabbed his bag and hugged May goodbye.  
“Have fun! And don’t stay up too late!” May called after him. Peter opened the door to see Happy’s anything but happy expression.  
“Alright, kid. Let’s go.” Happy sighed as they walked outside and got in the car. Peter rambled on and on and Happy pretended to listen for the whole ride.  
Finally, they arrived at the tower. Once Peter stepped inside, he found Tony waiting for him.  
“Hey, kid. Ready for the most awesome weekend of your life?” Tony smirked.  
“Yep! As soon as I finish my geometry homework that is.” Peter shrugged his backpack off his shoulder and onto the couch. He sat down on the couch and took out a mechanical pencil and his geometry homework. They were currently learning about special triangles. Peter didn’t really understand it at all. But then again, nobody in the class really understood it.  
“A deal with your unusually attractive aunt?” Tony sighed and crossed his arms.  
“Yeah.” Peter said. “She wants me to get it all done tonight so I won’t forget over the weekend.” Peter sighed.  
“Alright, well I’ll be in the lab then. Come find me when you’re done with whatever it is you’re doing.” Tony left the room. Peter began to work on the first problem. He had no idea what to do, so he looked back in his notes. He only ended up more confused thanks to his notes. Maybe he could go one night without doing his homework? It’ll only bring his grade from an A+ to an A- at the least. No! He can’t do that! This is only the first homework on special triangles. If he doesn’t understand this homework then he won’t understand the next homework either. Then he’ll end up failing an entire unit. And if he fails the whole unit, then that’ll bring his grade down a lot, plus he’ll fail that entire section on the final, and he’ll fail the units to come if they require special triangles too.  
Peter didn’t even realize he was hyperventilating until Friday commented on it.  
“Peter, your heart rate is dangerously high. Would you like me to call in Mr. Stark?” Friday’s robotic voice asked. Peter couldn’t force his mouth to form words, but he assumed that Friday told Tony since he came rushing into the room.  
“Kid! What’s wrong? Is there an intruder?” Tony yelled as he ran into the room. He looked around in confusion, only to see Peter hyperventilating on the couch. His homework was long forgotten on the floor. What’s happening? No, Tony knew all too well what was happening. He suffered from panic attacks himself. He just couldn’t believe a kid as young as Peter had to deal with them. Tony made his way towards the couch and sat next to Peter.  
“I need you to breathe, Peter. Breathe with me. In... out... in... out... there you go.” Tony soothed him while rubbing his back. Peter did his best to slow his breathing enough to match Tony’s. He was shaking and he had a death grip on the pencil in his tense hand. Tony noticed. “Why don’t you put the pencil down.” Tony suggested.  
“C-can’t.” Peter struggled. Peter soon felt Tony’s hands around his. Tony couldn’t help but notice how cold his hands were. Tony sat with him until Peter’s breathing slowly returned to normal. They were still shaking, which caused the pencil to drop to the floor with his homework. Tony would wait until Peter was calm enough to ask what happened.  
Finally, Peter had seemed to calm down almost fully. He was still shaking a bit, but his shallow breaths had returned to normal. Tony decided it was now or never.  
“So... you wanna tell me what this was about?” Tony asked awkwardly. He had never had a talk with someone after his panic attacks. Only during. He had no idea how to start off, but Peter needed him. They sat in silence for what seemed like hours, but was probably only a few minutes. Peter opened his mouth and closed it again. “Come on, kid. I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s wrong.” Tony sighed.  
“I-It’s stupid.” Peter shuttered slightly. Tony rolled his eyes.  
“That’s a load of BS. If it made you go into a full blown panic attack, then it’s not stupid and it’s obviously upsetting you.” Tony rubbed his hand in soothing circles around the arachnid’s back.  
“I was just stressed out because I was thinking about my homework and I have no idea how to do it and if I don’t do it I’ll fail the class and-“ Peter began to ramble and Tony cut him off before he could start hyperventilating again.  
“Kid, it’s fine. If you don’t understand your homework just tell your teacher. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind helping you, I mean that is his job. Or you could just ask me for help. I don’t like to brag or anything, but I am the smartest guy in the world.” Tony chuckled lightly. Peter joined in weakly.  
“Now let’s see...” Tony picked the forgotten homework and pencil up off the floor. He scanned the page with furrowed eyebrows before turning towards Peter.  
“All you have to do is...” He spent the next hour helping Peter with his homework. Once Peter was done, he put his homework back into his backpack.  
“Mr. Stark?” Peter looked towards his fatherly figure.  
“Yeah, kid?” Tony questioned. Did the kid have more homework that he needed help with? That would be fine, but it’s surprising how much homework they give kids these days.  
“Thank you.” Peter smiled a bright, genuine smile that melted Tony’s heart.  
“Anytime.” Tony gave a slight smile back.


	5. The Carnival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter has a panic attack at the carnival.

Luckily, Peter hadn’t had another attack in a while. He still hadn’t told Aunt May about his panic attacks. He didn’t want her to worry about him more than she already was with him being Spider-Man. Peter never seemed to feel anxious when he was swinging across the streets of New York. He always had Karen to keep him calm. He loved being Spider-Man.  
However, Tony decided it was time for him to hang up the suit. Just for a day though. The other avengers were taking a break for the day too. There was a small carnival in town, and Peter had told Tony about it. He wasn’t expecting Tony to agree to go, and invite all the avengers to go with them. To say Peter was excited was an understatement.  
When the avengers plus Peter arrived, they noticed how small and cheap the carnival was. They only had a few big rides like the pirate ship, the hang gliders, the scrambler, the tilt-o-whirl, and starship 3000. Peter had gone on starship 3000 last year, but this one looked different. Last year, it was open and tilted and had restraints and padding. This year, all Peter could tell from the outside was that it didn’t tilt and was enclosed. He loved the ride last year, so he was excited for it again.  
“What are we riding first?” Sam asked. Everyone looked around the carnival. They probably looked like a strange bunch. Their group consisted of Tony, Peter, Sam, Steve, Bucky, Natasha, Clint, Bruce, Wanda, Vision, Scott, Thor, Loki, T’Challa, and Rhodey. Thor and Loki were visiting, and Peter thought they should come to the carnival since they had never been to one.  
“Let’s go on the scrambler first!” Peter exclaimed. The scrambler has always been his favorite, besides the zipper. They got rid of that from last year though. The others agreed and went to stand in line. Peter, Tony, and Rhodey sat together, while Sam, Steve, and Bucky sat together. Natasha, Clint, and Bruce sat together. Wanda, Vision, and Scott sat together, not without Scott complaining about having to sit with the love birds. Thor, Loki, and T’Challa sat together. Once the ride started, Peter laughed as he was thrown against Tony, who was practically suffocating Rhodey as the ride whipped around. Peter looked towards Loki and Thor to see Loki looking like he was going to vomit and Thor laughing along with him. Everyone seemed to be having fun besides Loki and Bruce, who was starting to look a bit green. Not from the hulk though. He hoped not at least since that would be a disaster.  
After a while, the ride stopped. Peter whined as it stopped. He didn’t want to get off, but there were more people waiting to get on. The avengers stumbled off the ride and looked around.  
“Where to next?” Scott asked. Bruce and Loki immediately stumbled away to find a bench to sit on.  
“Pfft. Losers.” Tony giggled with Scott, Clint, and Sam. Natasha rolled her eyes at their immaturity.  
“Starship 3000!” Thor yelled. “It reminds me of Asgard. We have many ships on our planet.” Thor bragged.  
“Yeah! I can’t wait to go on that one!” Peter exclaimed. The avengers made their way to the giant, metal dome and entered one by one. Peter felt the familiar stab of anxiety in his chest, but ignored it. Peter looked around the dome and noticed the ride operator sitting in the middle facing the entrance. There were no restraints or even handles to hold onto. Peter sighed before following the avengers to the left side.  
Peter didn’t know if it was his imagination or if the entire ride was about to tilt off it’s axis. He could feel himself moving backwards and stood against the wall. He didn’t notice where all of the avengers went. He only knew that Tony was to his right, while Bucky was on his left. It didn’t make Peter feel better that there was black duct tape where the wall met the ceiling. Peter tried his best to grip the edges of the wall as the ride started.  
As the ride picked up speed, the wall slid up. Bucky and Tony slid up beside him and he soon followed. He was not expecting that. In fact, he thought the ride was breaking. He began screaming as he gripped Tony’s hand with his cold and clammy one. His arms and legs became tingly. Soon, even the back of his head was tingling.  
Peter could see a small chubby boy across from him smiling widely. That small kid was having fun while Peter was scared out of his mind. Peter quickly glanced towards the ride operator, who wasn’t panicking. Why wasn’t anyone panicking? The ride is breaking!  
The ride slowly came to a stop, along with Peter’s screaming. He couldn’t let go of Tony’s hand, not that he wanted to in the first place.  
“Haha! Let us go again!” Thor laughed while clapping.  
“Ow, kid. What’s with the death grip?” Tony asked, looking over at Peter. Peter couldn’t feel his arms or legs, so why would he be able to feel how strongly he’s gripping Tony’s hand? Tony noticed how pale Peter’s face was. “Kid?” Sure enough, Peter began to hyperventilate.  
“Aye what’s taking so long? The line for the bumper cars is short, hurry up!” Clint yelled. Peter nor Tony even noticed that the rest of the avengers had already exited the ride.  
“Calm down, Peter. I’m gonna help you walk to the bench outside, okay?” Tony told him. Peter didn’t respond. But then again, Tony didn’t expect him to. Tony took a step forward, and Peter’s other arm shot up from his side to grip Tony’s sweater and steady himself. They slowly walked out of the dome and down the stairs. The other avengers turned to look at them once they exited.  
“What took you so long? Did you pee your pants or someth-“ Sam joked, before he saw Peter’s condition. The avengers ran over and surrounded Peter and Tony.  
“What’s wrong with him?” Scott asked, concern evident in his expression.  
“He’s having a panic attack. Where are Bruce and Loki?” Tony questioned urgently.  
“Panic a-?” Sam began, only to be cut off by T’Challa.  
“They are over there.” T’Challa pointed towards Loki and Bruce, who had yet to notice them. Tony began to quickly half drag Peter by the hand to the bench. The rest of the avengers followed. Once they got closer, Loki and Bruce paused their conversation to look up and immediately stood up to offer the bench to Peter and Tony.  
“Bruce, help me out!” Tony yelled. Bruce startled into action and kneeled in front of Peter. He began to help Peter with his breathing. The other avengers stared at the scene from behind him in horror.  
“What’s wrong with him?” Wanda yelled, tears swimming in her eyes. Vision wrapped an arm around her shoulders in a gesture of comfort.  
“What’s going on?” Rhodey questioned, his voice hard and serious.  
“Should we call an ambulance?” Natasha asked, trying to stay calm.  
“Everyone shut up!” Tony yelled. Once Peter’s grip finally loosened, Tony rubbed his red hand in circles on Peter’s back. He enveloped him in a hug and pulled his head to his chest.  
“Um, you really shouldn’t do that if he’s having a panic attack...” Steve trailed off.  
“Shut up, I know what I’m doing.” Tony growled. He continued to hug him until Peter could feel his arms and legs again. His breathing returned to normal.  
“S-sorry.” Peter sniffled. Tony’s eyebrows furrowed.  
“For what?” Tony asked incredulously.  
“Your hand. It’s probably gonna bruise.” Peter frowned.  
“I’m not worried about my hand right now. I’m more worried about you.” Tony’s arms tightened around Peter. Peter wrapped his arms around Tony in return.  
“I’m okay. I’m used to it by now.” Peter croaked.  
“That’s why I’m worried. You shouldn’t be used to this. You’re just a kid!” Tony sighed gloomily.  
“It’s okay, Mr. Stark. Really, I’m fine.” Peter responded tiredly.  
“Peter, it’s okay to not be fine.” Loki entered the conversation. “Sorry for interrupting, but it needed to be said. When I was locked away in prison and heard that my mother had died, I tried to trick Thor into thinking I was fine.”  
“That’s right. And it didn’t work out for him.” Thor sighed.  
“But Thor helped me throughout my grieving process after he found out how sad I really was. If you’re honest with us, we can help you.” Loki assured.  
“That’s right.” Bucky said. “We all care about you so much.” Peter looked around at each avenger. He couldn’t find any evidence that they were lying. He began to tear up. He had always thought that most of his family was dead, and Aunt May was the only family he had left. However, all this time he had failed to notice the new family he had right in front of him. Peter looked confused when he saw the avengers start to panic, but then realized they probably thought he was crying tears of sadness. He reassured them by giving them a watery smile.  
“Thanks, guys.”


End file.
